Unyielding
by Andrithir
Summary: Human expansion, second contact.
1. Second Contact

**A/N: Another wacky idea I just came up with… well it's not that wacky really.**

**XXxxXX**

**Few ground rules:**

**What if the Human-Covenant War hadn't ended?**

**Shepard is a Spartan-IV, but not a biotic.**

**ONISAD is in this story.**

**Follows a lot of elements from **_**Lost Legacy**_**.**

**Miranda and Johnson are… still alive, because things went down slightly differently on the Ark.**

**XXxxXX**

"_I thought that when you got back from the Ark, it would be over. But it wasn't. It's never going to be over, isn't it?"  
__**-Kelly-087 to John-117, hours before her death in a Covenant ambush.**_

**XXxxXX**

**NEW ELIS CITY, RAUFAUSS, DANTE SYSTEM, 2558**

Commander Kylie Shepard sat in the remains of a hotel, growing wearier of this war as time passed. It had been just constant fighting, day after day, week after week, year after year. Just continual fighting with no end in sight. Raufauss had been lucky during the early days the war, completely overlooked by the Covenant.

_That was until some Innie decided to fuck everyone over._

The Covenant had rolled in so fast it was unbelievable. Raufauss was just a Mid Colony planet for mining; it possessed some minor spaceborne assets like SkyWatch and SkyGuardian. But those were made to stop pirates, rogue PMCs and Innies, not to stop a full blown Covenant Armada.

Kylie gazed over the remains of New Elis. She could easily see the blood smeared all over the roads with her augmented azure blue eyes. There weren't any bodies, at least, no old decaying bodies. The Covies usually got to them before they went off. Shepard had seen far too many half-eaten children in rundown houses too many times in this war. It never got any easier.

She had been in this war for far too long, been fighting in it since 2547. The same could be said for the ONISAD team with her. Rumour has it that they were the ones who cleaned house when General Essingdon Keyes took over ONI. He was the younger brother of Miranda Keyes, and the son of the late Captain Jacob Keyes. From what Kylie had heard, the man was both brilliant in the sciences and covert tactics. During his early tenure as a senior officer, he had been the supervisor for ONISAD. He was a compassionate man, making sure that his people lived to fight another day. The Special Forces ability to remain sharp in this war was due in no small part to him.

Seeing a flight of Separatists Banshees fly by, Kylie knew that it was time to get back to work again. She eased her helmet over her brown hair and gestured towards First Element and the remaining members of Spartan-II Blue Team, to come over.

"Situation?" the Chief asked in his deep voice. People still called him Chief these days; it was symbolic more or less. He had been promoted to Commander a few years back to allow him more field flexibility, and to stop jackass COs from making him do stupid shit.

"We're gearing up for an attack," Kylie answered.

"Any news from upstairs?" Fred asked.

"Nothing of use, Palmer says that the storms and jammers are doing hell to the sensors."

"Thought she'd come join the party," Sandman commented as if he was talking about the weather.

"So what's the plan?" Linda asked, checking the sights on her sniper rifle.

"Shepard, you Thorne and Linda attack from the East," John said, drawing a rough diagram on the dirt caked tabe. "Fred and I will take them for the west."

He then pointed at Arca. "Echo-One, hit them from the south."

"You got it."

Kylie still found their black visors and blood red optics scary as hell. The crimson glow was mainly used for theatrics in close quarters, their psychological effect was undeniable. Grunts were always sent packing, and Innies cowered in fear. The ONISAD team was the larger one out of the group, consisting of Arca, Lotus, Greystone and Sandman. Thorne, was also revealed to be ONISAD not too long ago, his callsign was Briar, for obvious reasons.

They were all out to destroy a Covenant artillery position, and wipe out the enemy HQ in the region. Both sides had taken heavy casualties, but the two Infinity-Class ships in obit had helped even out the odds a bit. _Supremacy_, commanded by Captain Miranda Keyes, and _Infinity_ under the command of Captain Thomas Lasky, have been performing high-risk attacks against the Covenant ships, providing a small window to work in. Every so often, husks of destroyed Loyalist ships would come blazing through the atmosphere and land somewhere in the distance.

"What does intel have on their position? Anything new?" Thorne asked.

"Nothing, storm's grounded the drones," John supplied. The Spartan looked back and forth, assessing the team. "Everyone clear with the plan?"

The Spartans nodded.

"Let's do this."

Lotus took point at the stairs and made his way down to the foyer where a rough motor pool and forward hospital had been set up. There weren't that many wounded, only the dead. Corpsmen just paced along the rows of body bags, eyes dark and hollow, checking the tags. Kylie didn't envy them, not in the slightest.

The group mounted Mongooses, which were the only vehicles available; all the warthogs had been deployed providing whatever help they can. Shepard had a preference to the newer models which were kitted out with more armour, countermeasures and doors.

"Objective is five klicks north, behind the mountains," Arca said, checking the maps.

"Move out, and fan out," John warned.

Kylie revved the quad bike's engine and immediately shot out of the motor pool. The mongoose glided down the road, its low howl drowned out by the heavy rain. Mud and water splashed onto her visor as she felt the g-forces pushing against her. Oh how she loved to drive, she loved the feeling of solid ground dictating the ride. Shepard had grown on a ship, and when her mother took her out for shore leave, they usually spent it on a mid-colony. Inner colonies were way too dense to spend time off peacefully. Sure it was fun, but the regulations against flying cars for security reasons, and the flat infrastructure made travelling boring. Outer colonies were far too quiet, flying cars were a lot more prevalent, but so were terror cells. Mid-colonies however had the best of both worlds, populated city centres and beautiful vistas.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have a problem," Palmer called over the COMs.

"Situation?"

"Covies are bugging out up here, but we've got reports of Innies in your area. Stay frosty people."

An assortment of cuss were broadcasted over TEAMCOM, most of them came from Lotus.

"Bloody fucking hell, first the Covies, then the Innies."

The rest of the ride to the mountains was relatively uneventful. They passed a few friendly units and outposts as they left the burning remains of the city centre. Upon reaching the base of the elevated range, the group split of in their separate directions, getting ready to fulfil their goals.

…

**ABOARD UNSC **_**INFINITY**_**, HIGH ORBIT**

His eyes were constantly sweeping over the tactical display. The lack of sleep was getting to him, but he couldn't rest, not yet. Until he was sure that the Covenant could be handled by the mop-up crews, Tom wasn't going to go anywhere near his quarters.

"Keyes, move your group to the north, I'll cover you," Lasky said taking in a deep breath. He rested his hand on his chin as he watched the red entities move closer towards his position.

"Copy that, moving now," Miranda complied.

The view screens showed _Supremacy_ and her contingent of Charon-class light frigates readjust their course before their engines flared.

"Roland, ETA on enemy arrival."

"Five minutes," the AI replied.

"Nothing takes five minutes," Laksy muttered. He turned his attention back to the tactical map which displayed the war torn planet below. High Command had been awful vague about why they needed to hold onto the planet at all cost. Tom knew that the aforementioned resources were not _that_ valuable. It had to be something else, there had to be another reason to why two Infinity-class ships were deployed in the same system.

He felt _Infinity _move again, ploughing through the field of derelict Covenant ships. The Separatists were off engaging Loyalist elements near Raufauss's second moon, Eisenwall. This meant that UNSC Naval forces would be on their own for a while. It wasn't too bad considering that the UNSC had overhauled whatever was left of its military with Forerunner Tech, but still, it would be nice to have some form of backup.

…

**PLANETSIDE**

Rain was beating down on John as he kept his Relentless Assault Rifle raised and at the ready. Essingdon Keyes had made sure that R'n'D went all out on developing the weapon. It had insane rate of fire, firing 2000 hardlight rounds per minute without overheating. It was perfect for fighting at all ranges, and any target.

"Fred, move up."

"Got it."

The two Spartans quickly made their way up the mountainside, carving a path through the thick shrubs and rocks. The MJOLNIR Mk7 was a thing of beauty, its constant tactical updates and scans were extremely valuable on the battlefield. But John had made a mental note not to rely on it too much. _Gadgets fail, eyes don't_.

"You think we can hold onto Raufauss?" Fred asked while vaulting over a boulder.

"They wouldn't have sent in ONISAD," John answered cryptically.

Even with the new technology and allies, the UNSC was still heavily undermanned and fighting the war on two fronts. The Insurrectionists weren't making it any easier. John knew that ONISAD was on Raufauss specifically to deal with any terror cells and instil fear into the Covenant. General Keyes would've never sent them and the Spartan-IIs if the situation wasn't desperate.

Raufauss was a mining planet rich with resources vital towards the war effort. If the UNSC lost the planet, then no one would have it. The Task Force were under orders to not let the world fall into enemy hands, one way or another. John knew exactly what that meant… NOVA strike.

"We're almost at the summit."

John looked at the Nav Marker on his HUD. He was less than a hundred metres away. Judging from the lack of rain in the area, he knew that the ionised air from the plasma artillery was literally ripping apart the rain clouds. He could see the fading light of the setting sun through the opening.

"Report in," he keyed into his mike.

"In position," Shepard answered.

"Two minutes," Arca checked in.

Upon reaching the ridgeline under cloak, the Chief managed to see the entire Covenant position. Unlike previous encounters, this base was in horrible condition. Ground level was absolutely flattened by orbital bombardment. All that remained where the Wraith Tanks with active camo and heat sinks. Only sonar sensors allowed the Spartan to pick up the armoured vehicles.

"I've got eyes on base entrance," Fred said.

"Call in airstrike first, then we'll move in."

"Copy."

John pulled out the tactical map on his HUD and made rough estimates to where everyone would be. They all had their FoF tags turned off, and enemy jammers were up. Thankful Superluminal was immune to conventional jamming methods, allowing the team a direct link to _Infinity _and _Supremacy_.

"This is Spartan Blue Team," Fred keyed into the COMs, "requesting airstrike at nine-point-seven-three-two-foxtrot."

There was a pause before an operator answered.

"Copy that Blue Team, rerouting fast movers. Get those AAs down."

"We're on it."

Fred silently moved behind a rocky outcrop and deployed the M99A2 SASR, a menacing Gauss Rifle which slung API rounds at terrifying speeds. Ever since it entered mass production, it became the UNSC's heavy hitting, anti-material sniper rifle.

"In position," he said, settling his aim. "Checking for AAs."

The Chief hunkered down and covered Fred's six. Fred was the second best sniper and best spotter out of all the Spartans. He was just as capable of playing lone wolf like Linda was.

Heavy explosive claps registered in John's ears as Fred pulled the trigger repeatedly. He could only guess that his long-time friend was coordinating synchronised shots with Linda as they took out Anti-Air positions.

John climbed up onto the ridge and scanned the area with his optics. He saw a couple of gun positions covered in scorch marks and Covenant soldiers smeared all over the purple walls.

"This is Thunder-Two-Two, we're holding orbit, laze targets over," said a female voice.

"Copy that, marking now," John answered. He gave a quick nod to Fred.

A contingent of Shortsword bombers came roaring down from the stratosphere like birds of prey. Their cloaks deactivated as they dropped their thermobaric payloads before climbing back up beyond the clouds. John kept his sights on the missiles leaving a trail of grey-ish smoke in their wake. The warheads reached their set marker and blanketed the Covenant position with vapour.

Instinctively, John and Fred ducked behind the rocks as the gas ignited, lighting up the evening sky in a ball of fire. Tremors were felt from miles around. Pebbles and dust rolled down the mountains side as the shockwaves swept over.

"Good effect on target," the Chief keyed into his mike. "Moving in."

"Good hunting people," the pilot said.

John activated the tactical map again; First Element had turned the FoF tags back on again, allowing him to pinpoint their position. They were moving through what was left of the rainforest, occasionally slowing down to deal with a straggler. But those pauses took barely a heartbeat.

"Gentlemen," the COMs chimed again. This time it was Fhajad, not Palmer. "We have a problem."

"Why do you guys always call us when you have a problem," Lotus deadpanned over the channel, "I mean, why don't you ever call into say hi, or good news. Why is it always the bad news?"

There was an irony in the question. But Fhajad shrugged it off.

"Good to hear from you too. But we have orders to bang out. All UNSC forces are too fall back to extraction points."

"What about the HQ?" Shepard asked.

"Mop-up can handle it," Fhajad replied. "I'll brief you when you get back to _Infinity_."

…

**ABOARD UNSC **_**INFINITY,**_** HIGH ORBIT**

Within the Special Forces Echelon of the UNSC, it was no secret that the Spartan-IIs were originally meant for fighting the Insurrectionists. The Spartans' ability to adapt to a new social environment was uncanny. Their sociopathic tendencies were a myth, one that seemed to propagate far and wide, generating a wide spectrum of concerns. It probably worked in their favour too. Disinformation and bluffing was what shrouded the real ONI.

Kylie could easily see the "divide" amongst the Spartans sitting in the briefing hall. To the far right was First Element, and right next to them were the Spartan-IIs. They wore similar attire which consisted off a multicam battle dress suited for urban incursions and thigh holsters for their side arms. The people that sat there were the ones who performed the wetworks, they're the most feared.

The middle of the room was where Spartan-IVs and IIIs sat, while to the left were Advance Recon Group Teams, Airborne First Division, ODST's 105th, Nightstalkers and various representatives of other branches.

When the hall lights dimmed, Shepard knew that the briefing was about to be underway. A central holographic display opened to life, projecting Raufauss and its surrounding moons. Fhajad took centre stage, dressed in a black and grey uniform.

"Ladies and gentlemen," he said grimly, "SkyWatch has picked up additional unknowns at the edges of this system."

Kylie watched a recorded feed from a SkyWatch drone. Cuttlefish shaped ships glided through the night effortlessly, firing their main weapons repeatedly. Lances of red danced from the mouths and struck home on fleeing ships.

"We have reason to believe they're Covenant, but at the same time, evidence suggests that this is a new player…"

Shepard leaned forward in her seat and brushed her scrunched lips in annoyance.

_As if this war wasn't bad enough already_…

**XXxxXX**

"_They break us down and then they train us from the ground up again. We don't hesitate pulling the trigger on kids, but it never gets any easier. Those of us who stop, well, they don't make it back. Innies love to play dirty. They'll send anyone who can hold a gun, at you. They're sloppy at best, but their ferocity and rage more than makes up for it. I've seen Nightstalkers, Helljumpers and Blood Talons all get torn up, just because they hesitated."  
__**-Arcani Asset to another, (within Section III, Arcani and ONISAD-SOG have become synonymous)**_

**XXxxXX**

**A/N: What do you think? Please leave a review and let me know.**


	2. Winter Assualt

**A/N: Apparently there's a Halo Fanon Wiki… and ONISAD has an article. I am slightly suspicious, could be a coincidence though.**

**XXxxXX**

"_**M850A2 Grizzly MBT (Grizzly 2)**__  
__Manufacturer:__ Chalybs Defence Solutions  
__Model:__ M850A2  
__Class:__ Main battle tank__  
Maximum speed:__ 80km/h off-road, 120km/h on-road  
__Length:__ 15m  
__Width:__ 9m  
__Main armaments:__ 400mm Hybrid Cannon System  
__Secondary armaments:__ DEW Coax (.50cal equivalent), remote controlled roof-mounted DEW M888 Gatling Gun (9.5x40mm AP equivalent)  
__Tertiary armaments:__ SAM Pods  
__Defensive systems:__ Anti-missile Defence Systems, Energy Shields, Ablative Armour  
__Crew:__ 1 Gunner, 1 Driver, 1 Commander – (AR Communications)  
__Role:__ Armour Supremacy and Anti-infantry_

_Additional notes:__ We designed this tank using the M850 Platform, but we decided to enlarge it and enhance it with some of the specs from the Rhino and the Merkava. The Grizzly 2 has a rear cargo compartment which allows it to carry soldiers, kited out as a medbay, move precious cargo, or have additional supplies for long-range missions._

_We also changed the engine entirely. It features a similar reactor core to the MJOLNIR GEN2 but on a larger scale. This allows the tank to become submerged if the need ever arises. It is also capable of minor self-repairs out in the field, thus increasing its range."  
__**-Extract from M850A2 Report. The Grizzly 2 now serves as the UNSC Premier and Primary MBT.**_

**XXxxXX**

**NEW FAIRFAX, GRAYSON SYSTEM, 2558**

The night was young, and the air was cold. It was the middle of winter, and both sides were slugging it out in artic warfare. John stood at the entrance of the massive FOB, gazing out over the blizzard landscape. Howling winds battered against his armour, but it could've been a scorching hot day, and the Spartan would be unaffected. The Mark VII was truly a thing of beauty, its communications gear was powerful enough to punch through atmospheric interference, and allow a direct uplink the satellite network in geosynchronous orbit.

John's HUD provided him real-time tactical updates of the entire battle raging on in the distance. He could hear the explosions and gunfire. It has been two days since the UNSC's encounter with the new faction. So far, there was no name for them. All attempts to hail them had been met with nothing.

The Garrison at Grayson had reported heavy losses during the initial attack. Covenant forces had gotten the better of the UNSC 12/A Carrier Strike Group, leaving little in the way of naval assets. 103rd Task Force also reported heavy ground casualties as they had beared the brunt of ground assault, and had been severely weakened by Insurrectionists attacks earlier.

Looking across the FOB, the Spartan could see hundreds of wounded soldiers. Some lay still, probably dead. Others were doing whatever they could to help with the next assault. John frowned; some of those wounded men shouldn't even be standing, let alone hauling ammo crates.

"Look at us," Fred whispered. He had his helmet on, but John could tell that his friend was frowning.

"What do you mean?"

"We've got wounded men doing the heavy lifting… see what the war has made us? _Desperate_."

Fred was one of the more outwardly compassionate and sentimental Spartans It was a good trait, but it got in the way sometimes. Usually John would have the Spartan do PR events to boost morale, but during combat, it could be a problem.

"Don't let it get in your head…."

"How can I?" Fred sighed, "Half of those men were wounded by the Innies."

John remained silent, he had been with First Element long enough to know that the Insurrectionists had an innate love to kill the UNSC. To them, the Human-Covenant War was the UNSC/Separatists-Covenant War. Insurrectionists had a fantasy that they were allied with the Covenant, and that made them exploitable for the Theocratic Empire. Too many times had the Spartan encountered Insurrectionists with Covenant Weapons, and usually it was when the Innies had become Secessionists, taking over abandoned UNSC colonies.

War was never clear-cut, regardless of the contrast between both sides. It would be so much easier to say, "It's us and them," but instead, John was forced to say, "It's us, them and those guys, and them too."

The UNSC had trained him to think, trained him to be independent. The Arcani Program taught him the art of true assassination and hunting. Not only was he a soldier, but he was an assassin. An Operative, an Asset that was what he was.

"We'll get the Innies later," John said.

"Hmmm," Fred hummed. "Is Blue Team-Two going to join us?"

BT2 was composed of the remaining Spartan-IIIs that were with Fred on Onyx. Over the years they had proven themselves to be very capable without supervision. So Command had Blue Team split into smaller components.

"They're out on EVA. We're moving out in ten, get ready."

…

**OVERLOOKING PHASE LINE ALPHA & NEW AUCKLAND**

ONI had dubbed the new faction "Reapers." According to the preliminary reports, it seemed appropriate to the Chief. ARG had reported the processing of civilians into mindless animations called "husks" or melt them down into genetic material for some unknown purpose. The "massive" ships shaped like cuttlefish would land planetside and commence close-bombardment. The style of attack was reminiscent of the Scarab, a massive hulking walker which fired immense energy. But there was a distinct difference in the firing mechanism.

Advance Recon Group Teams had reported that it was nigh impossible to tell where the Reaper was going to be shooting at. The main gun would spool up and fire at anything within its 145 degree field of fire. It was capable of firing numerous lances simultaneously without having to realign itself.

That could be a problem for the Allied armoured attack force. They would be charging straight down into the mouths of hell, and there was a strong change that they would never return.

John and his team were positioned atop a mountainous ridgeline, concealed by snow and bare trees. From their perfectly concealed position, they could wait for the perfect time to strike.

"You think the Destroyers will come down on us?" Fred asked

"Doubtful," said Linda.

Destroyers were the light-capital ships of the Reaper Fleet. They were about 120m tall, and were incredibly fast. Their size and agility allowed them to devastate in both naval and ground warfare. In spaceborne combat, the ships would come in close and land on top of the bigger ships before firing at point blank range. This type of attack would leave the opposing force at the mercy of the Reapers. But it was a good thing that the UNSC preferred to take things out at a range, so few ships had been lost to the Destroyers.

However, the Destroyer's capabilities on the ground were even more devastating. Their size made them perfect walkers and excellent defenders.

"Police the noise," John ordered, "we're moving in five."

This was just really one of those missions the Spartan would rather not think about. Intel had said that New Auckland had become a major playing field for Covenant Loyalists, Secessionists/Insurrectionists and the Reapers. From what the ARG had reported, the Loyalists and the Innies were in the same bed, while the Reapers were gunning for anyone who wasn't them.

Thousands of civilians were being converted a day, and although it was nowhere near as bad as a Flood outbreak, it was just as disturbing. The group's main objective was to infiltrate the city to whilst the assault commenced. From there, they would weaken the Reaper's position and mark processing sites.

"So Palmer, how's it feel to be out in the field again?" Lotus asked, there was a level of mirth in his voice.

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked, slightly perplexed.

"He means, 'how are you going to feel coming back with shit-stained armour'," Greystone explained in a deadpanned manner.

"Same as always?"

"Palmer," Arca interrupted, "don't feed the troll. He's insinuating that you've gone soft standing in Command and Control."

"Ouch… dick," the Commander muttered.

"Woah, language!" Shepard chided mockingly.

"I swear I never know when which one of you are talking," Lotus sighed. "Are you sure you two aren't related? You practically have the same voice."

"She wishes she was related to me," Shepard joked.

"No I don't," Sarah deadpanned.

Three Commanders, one Lieutenant Junior Grade, a Petty Officer Second Class and Five Paramilitary Officers… the balance of Command was offset abnormally. But it really didn't matter. The war had gone on for far too long, anyone who could fight was sent to the frontlines and any abled bodies would fill logistics. Regardless ranks, it was clear who was leader.

"Shepard, sitrep on the drone," John called.

Behind the thicket, Kylie was making modifications to the Unmanned Combat Assault Drone that was assigned to them. She had been tagged as "it", and by that, she was in charge of the drone for the day. Everyone in the outfit was more than capable of making field repairs on a drone, except no one wanted to be on the glaring end of an angry tech back at base.

"Making a few adjustments to the gravity dampeners," Shepard answered. "Arca, why don't you help out?"

"Remember last time?"

"Oh right, yeah. Sorry. How's the stomach?"

"Alec placed a ghost pepper into my dinner, and castor oil into my drink," Arca said slowly, "and when I went to the bloody toilet, he set off a chilli grenade next to my face… how do you think I feel?"

A few members laughed, remembering the ill-fated day when Arca was "it", the Drone's baby sitter. Unfortunately, he was in charge of a drone that Saps or Alec, had poured a lot of time and effort into customising. John remembered the look on Saps's face when he saw the mangled UCAD crawling with a limp back into the lab.

"Disciplinary" action was swift for Arca, but he recovered just as quickly. Unbeknownst to the Paramilitary Officer, Palmer, John and Linda were a part of the board that had secretly passed judgement. The Chief knew that the coming days were going to be tough, so people were going to need something to bolster their spirits. And nothing is as good a morale booster as seeing a man at the mercy of chilli.

Kylie didn't get her iced chocolate that night, but it seemed to John that she didn't mind. Pulling himself out of thought, he checked the timer on his HUD. A few more minutes before General Keyes would give the all clear. It was time to run through the roster.

"Fred, Linda, Greystone and Thorne, you're on overwatch duties. Shepard and Lotus, you're with me. Palmer and Sandman, you're with Arca."

An assortment of nods and acknowledgements were made. Some had a jovial undertone to them. Good, it is prudent to maintain morale. John had seen too many broken men and women in this war. Most of them will never have their stories told.

"Time to move out."

The overwatch team hugged the ridgeline as everyone else advanced to the city under the cover of the snowy night. Minds switched on and jokes faded away.

…**  
APPROACH TO PHASE LINE ALPHA – 3****rd**** ARMOURED BATTALION; HAMMER TROOP**

First Lieutenant Jake Andrews held the Grizzly 2 in high regards. Its defensive capabilities and high speed had saved his life so many times than he bothered to count. But as much damage the tank could take, it could dish out even more.

The Reapers were a relatively new enemy, and it was something that Andrews wasn't too comfortable about. He had seen their ships come out of the sky like a demonic being before raining hell down on the people below. The G2s were tough, but they weren't rated to take on direct "orbital" bombardments.

Jake just prayed that the newly arrived _Infinity_ and _Supremacy_ could help keep Armageddon of his back. The storm may have stopped the flyboys, but they weren't going to be stopping a two-kilometre long ship.

Looking at the camera and tactical displays, Andrews could see that there was nothing on the scanners. But something would show up, eventually.

"Forward scouts have identified and marked enemy targets," the Controller broadcaster said. Andrews could tell she was tired.

"Hammer Troop, you're on point," Captain Ali Weiss ordered. "Thunder and Granite Troop will cover your flanks."

"Copy that, ma'am," Andrews complied, "Hammer Troop moving to take point."

Jake issued the order to his platoon of five tanks into a wedge formation. This was it, his first engagement with the Reapers.

The tanks roared across the artic plains, kicking up snow behind them. Marked targets appeared on the tactical display, and without hesitation Andrews's mind went into full gear.

"All Hammers load APAM and set to single fuse."

"Copy that, sir," the acknowledgements came.

"Marking targets, fire on my command."

The tactical display showed the overlay of the relatively flat battlefield. Powerful sensors allowed the crews to see through the thick snow and zero in on their targets. The Reaper ground forces looked ill-equipped to take on an armoured platoon, but Jacob didn't really care. There was no honour in war, just whose alive and who's dead. If the enemy was a pushover without their massive ships, so be it.

"Open fire!"

The G2 shuddered as the main gun fired. Jacob watched five marks streak towards their target, and detonated with devastating effect. The camera allowed Andrews to zoom in and see all the enemy combatants. All of them were ugly as hell, but at least he knew what he was shooting at. The AR Interface and Intel Networks provided all the relevant information on the targets.

"Ready to fire," Specialist Alice Langson said as the screen winked green.

"Marking next target," Jacob said.

His fingers danced across the console as he quickly highlighted the next set of targets. The markers shifted from grey to blue the moment one of his units had a bead on it.

"Open fire!"

In a split second, the prefab settlement was gutted. APAM rounds soared over the trenches and smashed into the walls. The resulting detonation of the warheads sent tungsten pellets straight into the rooms, shredding apart anything inside.

"All units are free to engage."

Hammer Troop stormed across the front with the Tank Commanders now taking initiative. Heavy treads rolled over cars, crushing the lesser weight vehicle before barrelling through a house. By the time Hammer Troop had passed through, the settlement was nothing more than shattered concrete, squashed bodies and scrap metal.

"Trojan-One-Acutal, this is Hammer Troop; we've cleared the first town. Moving onto Phase Line Bravo," Jake broadcasted.

"Copy that Hammer, be careful and good hunting," Weiss replied.

"Acknowledged."

The move to Phase Line Alpha was the easy part, because of the flat ranged approach. Bravo was in a valley, mired with dunes and a collapsed highway.

"Hammer Troop, tighten formation."

Green lights winked on in compliance. The five tanks thundered down the slopes and into the Valley. But thankfully, it wasn't a narrow pass kind of valley. It was fare more open than that.

"Targets identified," the Computer Systems alerted.

Andrews cycled through the displays and found that the enemies were still soft targets, only this time they had dozens of Ravagers with them.

"Incoming fire."

Dozens of red streaks lit the air as they streaked towards their target, leaving an eerie glow trailing in their wake. The G2's defence systems kicked in and quickly shot the round out of the sky, allowing the platoon to move on without losing momentum.

The tanks had excellent suspension systems, so the ride through the treacherous terrain was relatively smooth.

"All units engage the enemy."

The main guns kicked again as another salvo was unleashed. The results were no different from before. Reaper forces were shredded to ribbons as the tungsten pellets tore through their body. Cannibals shuddered, marauders crumbled, and ravagers reduced to nothing more than acidic flesh.

"Trojan-One-Actual," Jake keyed in, "this is Hammer. We've punched through Phase Line Bravo, minimal resistance so far. Proceeding onto Charlie."

"Copy that Hammer."

…

**NEW AUCKLAND, LONSDALE ALPINE RESORT**

Encased inside his armour, John silently glided towards the surface of the water. Despite the below freezing temperatures, heat from the power grid was vented out at this area of the coastline, preventing a sheet of ice from forming.

The Spartan looked up with his enhanced night vision, and saw the marauder presenting his back to him.

"Take the shot," the Chief ordered.

A split second later, a bullet silently hissed through the creature's head, toppling it over the edge. With one hand, John caught the body and used the other to catch the strange-looking gun. Then, quietly, he eased the body into the water and let it sink.

"We're clear," he whispered through the COMs.

John latched onto the metal dock and pulled himself silently out of the water. He crouched behind a crate and scanned the area while Shepard and Lotus climbed onto the platform. He could hear the distant cries of prisoners, and the ominous gunfire drawing ever so closer.

"I wish the flyboys could help us out. Nothing like a Firebird coming in to help us out," Lotus said.

Firebirds were the UNSC's premier precision strike Fighter. It was capable of flying up to hypersonic under "normal" atmospheric conditions. The result of such speeds would cause the surrounding air to ignite.

"I don't think firewhip is a great idea," Greystone muttered over the COM.

Firewhip is an attack run where the Firebird would fly at high speeds and release metallic sand over a target. The resulting payload would ignite the air and thus creating a fiery whip.

"Police the noise," Chief ordered.

On his HUD, he had placed a nav marker which pinpointed the location of the second team's infiltration point. They would be moving parallel to him while pushing through the city. Mission objectives were clear; locate and mark processing facilities, and neutralise artillery and AA. Simple enough, but absolutely crucial.

Moving away from the docks and towards the warehouse, John scanned through the buildings with his sensors. Reaper forces haven't been alerted to his presence yet. Good, it was time to bring in the big guns.

"Call in the drone," John ordered.

"Copy," Shepard complied.

The sleek black UCAD surged from the water in a perfect transition. It was the Panther series, the latest line of support drones optimised for all aspects of warfare. It was shaped and built appropriately too. A few teams of ONISAD-SOG had outfitted their Panthers with red lights, scarring the Innies and Grunts with surprising effectiveness.

But John had read the reports and as far as ONI knew; the Reapers had no logistics, no fear and no morale.

"Keep the Panther close, we want to make this quick. Stay low and keep your cloaks on."

The team moved out and located an AA battery. It was guarded by a light contingent of Reaper forces. Weapon model was unknown, but the sensors in the MJOLNIR provided readout on the HUD.

"John," Fred called over the COMs, "Reaper Forces are retreating from your area. Something's up."

"Got it."

The Spartan gestured for his team to get into firing positions. He lined up his sight on a group of cannibals and waited.

"On your go," Lotus said.

"Waiting for your shot," Shepard whispered.

"Ready," Linda indicated.

John took a deep breath, and squeezed the trigger. In a heartbeat dozens of targets dropped with their heads turned into a mangled mess. Mendez may have taught the Spartans to do body shots, but the Arcani Program had retrained candidates to go for upper torso and headshots.

The Spartans quickly took up defensive positions while Lotus planted the charge of C12 onto the battery.

"Everything's set," he said.

"Detonate when we're clear," John ordered.

"Yes sir."

…

Adrian James Chen, callsign Arca, and cover name: Clarence Yun Shen. He had come from a long line of doctors, lawyers and businessmen, but he and his late brother were the first to break that longs standing tradition. JunJie Chen attended Corbulo alongside Thomas Lasky, while Adrian went to Exemplar with Essingdon Keyes. Although younger than Palmer and Miranda Keyes, Chen had seen enough to break anyone, or turn them into a cynic with a dark dry sense of humour… or may be both.

Arca could tell that Palmer wasn't too pleased working with ONISAD. And who could blame her? She was working with Arcani Assets, or SOGs as they are more commonly know; the Assassins of the UNSC. His first impressions of he was not a good one. He saw her as arrogant and overly gung-ho, traits which he absolutely hated.

Thorne had also told him that Sarah had shot Halsey in the arm, and when Keyes had heard of it he was _livid_. It was probably why the General had pulled a few strings to make sure Palmer was always near an Arcani Team. He wanted to open Palmer's perspectives, and Adrian was only too glad to help. But there was a small part of him that didn't want her to know the true reality of ONISAD. Rumours can only tell one so much. He didn't want her ending up something like him. So upon seeing a dead child as he climbed out of the water, Chen quickly draped a tarp over it.

"We're clear," he whispered over the COM.

"Copy, coming up," Sandman replied.

The docklands were like most Arca had been to before. Orderly, clean, well-equipped and blown to shits. The Operative gestured for his team to follow him to the storage buildings.

"We've got a cannibal and a ravage up on the crane to our north," Sandman warned.

"Palmer, aim for the cannibal. Sandman, you and I will concentrate fire on the ravage."

"Got it."

Adrian lined up his shot, aiming for the central disc between the two barrels mounted onto the ravager's back.

"Fire," he uttered.

High velocity rounds soared silently and found their mark. The ravage came crashing down while the cannibal dropped beside it, its flesh burning away due to the acid.

"That's nasty," Sandman cringed, watching the liquid seep through the grating.

"C'mon, let's get this done."

…

John had reached the central processing facility in the city without incident. Allied assault along the city limits had drawn the Reapers away, thus the compound was poorly defended.

"Send the Panther in, on my mark," the Spartan ordered.

Shepard crouched behind some rubble and readied herself while Lotus placed breaching charges on the gate. The Chief waited until everyone was in position and had their sights trained on their targets.

"Charges planted," Lotus said, falling back to safety.

"Execute! Execute!"

Time slowed to a crawl as adrenaline pumped through his veins. John had given the all clear to the sniper teams to fire at will. His enhanced hearing could pick up the faint thumps of the Gauss Sniper Rifles going off in quick succession.

The charges ripped the gate off its hinges, letting it land with a resounding thud. Shepard sent the drone in all guns blazing. The defenders were caught by surprised; dozens of them were cut down in seconds, reduced to nothing but ash and smouldering flesh.

John led the assault team through the opening and fired his rifle, picking off a marauder in the distance. He shifted his aim to a balcony, scoring hits on Reaper units holed up on the elevated platform. Cannibals were the easiest to get headshots on. The head was conveniently placed in front of centre mass, allowing the Operatives to paint the walls with brains.

The blue hue quad-eyes winked off like a switch when the rounds smashed through the cannibals' skulls and through their bodies, spilling blood onto the snow.

Husks poured out from cracks and crevices with an inhuman howl, charging towards the attackers. John drew his fist and punched through the skull of a creature, decapitate it messily and spilling a milky blue substance onto the snow.

John pivoted to his left and gunned down a marauder popping out from cover. The machine-cat-man-bird creature fell like a stone as its nervous system was severed cleanly.

In a matter of minutes, it was all over. The base was quiet, and it was time to clear the rooms out.

"Chief," Shepard beckoned. She sounded troubled. "We've got an issue."

John had known Kylie for a while now, her cheery attitude kept everyone in good spirits. Like him, she was a natural leader and surpassed him in rallying people to the fight. She might not be as iconic as he was, but her speeches inspired people to do things they never would do. Hell, she could probably convince him to wolf down two litres of ice cream if she wanted to. So to see her distressed, it made him worry.

"What is it?" he asked, jogging over to her position.

Kylie gestured towards the door, and heaved the vault like panel open. Scans had shown that no one was left alive in the processing camp. He wondered what had gotten her all worked up. Upon looking inside, he could tell why.

Bodies… lots of bodies, most were dead Brutes, Jackals and Loyalists Grunts, but some were human. Most of them were no older than fifteen. The bodies had been mutilated, malnourished and naked. It made him sick; it made his stomach turn and his heart dropped. Most of the smaller bodies were missing chunks of flesh, a clear indication that some of the Covenant had tried eating them.

"Goddamn," Lotus gaped, "fucking bastards."

John gazed towards the snow covered grass in the plaza before looking at Kylie again.

"Close it."

She gave him a nod and slid the hatch shut again.

A COM alarm droned on John's HUD, it was Captain Weiss.

"This is Sierra One-One-Seven, go ahead."

"This is Trojan-One, we're two klicks out from your position. Be advised, you have Reapers headed your way."

"Copy."

John flicked the channel off, and prepared his infiltration team. He lead them away from the square and up onto a balcony which commanded an excellent view over the terrace below. He knew that they were here to pick off the stragglers from the west bank assault.

Allied Forces were attacking the city from all possible vectors, leaving the occupants little room to escape. Hood had made it clear that no prisoners were to be taken after observing indoctrinated Innies liberated from the camps.

_No prisoners…_

The first wave of retreating forces came into view. They were mostly composed of ravagers, marauders and cannibals. No brutes (Reaper), banshees or husks. Probably because the husks were generally mindless, so they would've hurled themselves underneath the G2's treads. Same probably applied for the brutes, and banshees would've been the first things targeted.

"Weapons free," John ordered.

He placed the Grim onto his magnetic clamps and shouldered the Relentless. Easing it onto cover, he squeezed the trigger and watched it burn through the enemy horde.

Kylie stood a few meters away, picking off target after target via the drone command. The Panther was blanketing the killzone with an indescribable volume of energy. The roar of its heavy guns could be heard through the storm as it unleashed a firestorm of energy bolts at the enemy.

Since the Reapers had built a processing facility in the middle of a square, it had closed off most points of entrances thus forcing the retreating Reapers into a bottleneck.

ONISAD Operatives had switched their Grim rifles to loud and auto. Dozens of Reaper units withered away under the torrential storm of hypervelocity rounds with fire trailing in their wake. Despite the monsoonal firepower, just about every single shot counted, and by the time the guns stopped. All that remained were a field of bodies mixing with the rubble and snow.

John slung his Relentless and switched back to Grim, before heading back down into the square. The entire team fanned out and executed any survivors, while Shepard moved the Panther to provide better security.

"Clear on this end!" Arca said over the COM.

"Copy that."

The Spartan jogged over to the main avenue where the gates were. He didn't bother to step over the bodies; instead he just let his boots crush through the cavities of the corpses.

"How far out is Trojan?" Kylie asked, walking up to the Chief.

"Thirty seconds," he answered.

"So I guess we won again?" She asked.

John nodded. She was so much like Kelly.

**XXxxXX**

**ABOARD UNSC **_**SUPREMACY**_**, MESS HALL 04; NEW FAIRFAX, GRAYSON SYSTEM, 2558**

What's scarier than a Spartan-II? A Spartan-II that has received Arcani Training as well. ONISAD was a well-known entity amongst the UNSC Armed Forces. But what was less known was the Arcani Program. An Assassination Program started around the time when the Spartan-II Program went public.

Kylie had heard this from one of her team members back during the day when she was undergoing Spartan-IV training. She wasn't too sure if he was speaking the truth or echoing some rumour/propaganda. He was an Advance Recon Group Operative (Argo) after all, ONI's eyes and ears in the field. But if what he said was true, then the Innies were _fucked_.

He had said that ONISAD was composed of two groups. Political Actions Group, and Special Operations Group. PAGs handled economics and politics, and the SOGs were self-explanatory. But what made the SOGs unique to their predecessors was that they were all the same in terms of training.

ONI had made them into the go anywhere, fire and forget killing machines. Each SOG was a graduate of the Arcani Program. Other duties such as training resistance groups were handed over to ARG. It was a very unique set up. But another interesting thing to note was that the SOGs was one of the few branches remaining that did not accept female applicants. That being said they never take applicants but search for candidates themselves.

Shepard knew that despite the "comical" behaviour of the men sitting next to her, all of them were capable of killing someone quickly and efficiently… and making it look like an accident. Hell, John was sitting next to her, eating a cup of instant noodles with plastic chopsticks. Could he kill her with just those chopsticks? No doubt.

Of course, she didn't feel threatened by him or by any of those Operatives in fact. They let her know where she stood, and they treated her with respect. Even John had played poker with her… thank god she didn't bet anything but chocolate cookies that night. The Chief was unbelievably good. But he did share his cookies in the end though, which was nice.

Kylie smiled at the memory. John, handing out cookies. It was a good thing they were all in their standard issue fatigues, so no one recognised them.

"When was the last time you slept?" John asked. He was always concerned for the welfare of his people.

"Uh, ten hours ago," Shepard answered, rubbing her eyes.

John arched an eyebrow. "How long?"

"Four hours."

Spartans always recover quickly, thus their need for sleep was "minimal", but the cybernetic upgrades were quiet taxing on the mind, so the host was required to sleep more. Four hours was the previous minimal, but now it was bumped up to six.

"Go to bed earlier tonight," the Chief said, swirling the contents of his noodle cup.

"But Sarah and I were going to play Fhajad in chess tonight."

"Kylie…"

"Alright, alright, I'll cut back on the coffee and go to bed earlier."

John tilted his head. Shepard rolled her eyes. "What?"

"Go to sleep after dinner."

"Can I at least have a shower?"

The Spartan nodded.

Kylie was always amazed of his ability to communicate without words. It was uncanny how he could convey a paragraph's worth in just a sentence.

Palmer had always said he displayed sociopathic tendencies, but as Kylie had found out, that was a myth. His higher level of command and Arcani overlay had made him more "open". He applied himself more, and took extra care for his people. Sure he was still quiet, but at least a person could strike up a conversation with him these days. It was a lot more fun to joke with him too. His dry sense of humour was rare, but always had perfect timing.

"Hey, we've got to briefing," Greystone said, looking at the tacpad.

"When?" Palmer asked.

"Twenty minutes," the Operative answered, scrolling through the message. "We're going extract an ARG Team. They've found something… big."

**XXxxXX**

"_This weapon here, is the culmination of 3000 years of warfare… we call it; Grim. The Gauss Battle Rifle Mod 1. Switches auto and semi. It fires fifteen 10x6.2mm rounds a second. Bullets may be bigger, but they don't need casings or propellant, so you can carry more rounds than the average grunt. The gun can adjust muzzle velocity for stealth or loud operations by adjusting the power of the magnetic coils. Tactical rails allow this thing of beauty to blend. It's a personal favourite amongst ONISAD."  
__**-Armoury Chief Alec "Saps" Smith**_

"_I'm sorry; I totally missed all of that."  
__**-Lotus**_

"_It's the Grim Fucking Reaper. In short, it kills shit."  
__**-Saps**_

**XXxxXX**

**A/N: Well what do you think? Please review.**


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